Why Freelancers Should Leave Their Rooms and Join A Startup

Most of the very big companies that rule over the market today started from small startups. Some of them started in a room, some in small garages. With the increasing craze and growth of freelancing in the previous years, people have developed the tendency to adopt freelancing as their full-time careers. Sure, it sounds very good to be a freelancer. You can wake up whenever you want, you can work according to your schedule, work from your own home in perfect isolation. They do not consider the possibility that they can work in startups too which is a much greater career path for their future.

Working in startups provides you first-hand industry experience that is valuable for your career. While freelancing may seem the best option for some people, it has many disadvantages that are discussed later in this article. The startup industry has also been gaining higher altitudes in the past decades. Many startups are being started with many unique ideas that bring out the best in people. More and more people are joining startups today. Before mentioning the advantages of working at startups, we should first take a look at the disadvantages of working as freelancers.

Also Read: The Pros and Cons Of Becoming a Freelancer

Disadvantages of Freelancing

• Your work is not stable and your job is not secure. You may or may not get work all the time. This is a great disadvantage because if you do not get constant work, you do not get a constant salary, which means that you'll be in great trouble when you have to pay your bills.
• If you are freelancing, there is no schedule for your work. You tend to work when you please. This also means that there is a possibility that you sit for hours at a time trying to finish your work resulting in overwork. This can affect your lifestyle and your health in a bad way.
• Although it may seem to be a very good thing to some people that you work alone and isolated and at your own leisure if you are freelancing, but not being able to communicate with someone about your work or share your workload with someone can be frustrating.
• When you start with freelancing, there is no guarantee of the fact that you will get a job as soon as you apply for it. You will face huge and large competition from people who have already established themselves as huge freelancers. Maybe you are not able to get a job or if you are, its paycheck does not meet your expectations. This can be frustrating and can severely affect your work.
• Also, there are many jobs on freelancing platforms that turn out to be a scam once you have handed them your work. This wastes your time and efforts.

Now that we have discussed about the disadvantages of working as freelancers are, we should also discuss how these disadvantages are overcome when you work in startups.

Also Read: Future of Freelancing in India - Things You must Know about Indian Freelancing Sector

Advantages of working at startups

• If you are working at a startup, you have stable work and high job security. You constantly have work to do, and a constant salary. Initially, your paycheck will probably be low, but as the startup grows, the amount on the paycheck increases. This amount will be much more than what you would have been able to get as a freelancer. Although, some startups may pay you less, but they offer much more than salaries to their employees. Some of them may provide you with a small portion of their shares, which, when the startup becomes a multi-million one, will be greatly beneficial to you.
• You have to work as per the schedule of the startup. This ensures that you do not have to overwork and that you follow a healthy lifestyle. Even if in some case, you have to do overwork, you will get paid for that, unlike in freelancing.
• If you work in startups, you are surrounded by people who are talented and enthusiastic about their work. You get to learn a lot from all of these people. This also provides a good environment to work in. There are people working with you that are sharing your workload which had to be done by you alone if you were working on it as a freelancer which turns out be a very good advantage in favour of you.

• You learn a lot about the industry and gain experience in your work. This will be useful if you are planning to join a big company or establishing your own startup in the future. You will not be able to gain all of this knowledge and experience if you are working as a freelancer.
• You can still work as a freelancer along with your job. This way you can earn some extra bucks!

Also Read: Smart Strategies To Get Job In a Startup Company

Conclusion

While working as freelancers may seem fancy, it has its own disadvantages that are already discussed earlier. When you work in startups, it will definitely give you a chance to grow, both at the professional and personal levels. If you are new to the industry or are just about to start your career, freelancing may prove useful to you, but only part-time. When you've had some experience, you should join startups so as to master the skills that you have learned and to get familiar with the industry. While freelancing may provide you with a good base to start something new, you should not consider freelancing as your permanent or full-time job. Just gain some experience, gather some skills, and apply to work at some established company or a new startup.